Transportation
How to Navigate New York can be very daunting to the newcomer in terms of navigation: the roads are only arranged in grids in a few select locations, streets in different boroughs share names, the subway system runs on a very inconsistent schedule day-to-day, the bus system is beyond terrifying, drivers ignore bikers, bikers ignore pedistrians, and pedestrians only care about their iPhones. Even with the simple, disorganized guide below, the only real way to get a grip on the geography of the city is to dive in and experience it on your own. Public Transportation Here are a few resources to introduce you to the public transportation system. The MTA homepage is your best source for closures, route changes, and any sort of other changes to subway and extra-city train schedules. Plus you can download a copy of that horribly scaled subway map they post everywhere. Google Maps has the best and easiest to use map system out there, with the added advantage of you probably already being familiar with it. You can put in two addresses and a departure or arrival time and it will give you a couple of options for public transportation routes down to the step-by-step turns. However, it does have a few problems, most notably in subway schedules. The planned routes don't take into account route/stop maintenance and don't factor in weekend schedule changes, meaning any Google Maps route is really a best-case scenario type of thing. HopStop does a much better job than Google of taking into account service changes and route times. It's main issues lie in a much more difficult to operate interface (in this writer's opinion), slightly weaker maps, and poorer smartphone integration (which probably doesn't matter to those of you whose parents didn't keep you on their family plan). Cross-referencing their results with Google's is your best bet if you have to absolutely have to be somewhere at a given time with little leeway. Metrocards One of the downsides of not living in a utopian post-scarcity society is that stuff costs money, even stuff that is awesomely socialistic like public transportation. For people who have never been to NYC or watched television before, the transportation system uses flimsy debit cards called Metrocards that run on a flat-rate ($2.25) for all trains and standard buses. This can really add up quickly, especially if you're living too far from work to walk or ride a bike. One thing to consider would be using an unlimited 30-day card, which can be purchased from any machine or teller for $104 currently and gives you unlimited access to all standard transit. Using August 2011 as an example month, taking two rides a day only on weekdays would cost you $99. That's five dollars saved, and you wouldn't be riding at all on weekends or for any reason other than your work commute. The Subway 'R Train' The vast majority of you are going to be working in the heart of Sunset Park, so your lives are going to be ruled by the R train in some way. Within Brooklyn, the R runs between Court St. (across from Manhattan) to Bay Ridge-95th St. (where Saturday Night Fever ''movie, not the short lived 2004 Italian Flu scare partially took place). In general it operates locally, meaning it stops at all the podunk stations along its route, unlike the N train, which operates in parallel for most of its route but will take you to 36th, 59th, 8th Avenue and nowhere else within Sunset Park. On weekdays, this train tends to operate rather regularly during daylight hours, and stays consistent during morning commute time to about ±4 minutes, with a little more variability as the day goes on; however, some people report that it can be pretty inconsistent before 8am, so learn your timing. Trains tend to come every 8-10 minutes, a little long compared to some other Brooklyn lines, but manageable if you stick to a routine. From midnight until dawn it's generally replaced by an N train operating (mostly) locally, with much longer wait times; talk to the conductor before you board if you're not sure where it's going. On weekends all bets are off. There isn't yet a computer on Earth powerful enough to find a pattern in the R's arrival times and locations. If you need to get somewhere at a specific time on the weekend, get to one of the N stops, find some sort of bus to a better line, or take a car service (hahaha). 'N Train' As mentioned above, throughout Sunset Park the N operates as an express version of the R. In Brooklyn, it runs from Atlantic/Pacific to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue, and has the same path as the R until 59th St., where it juts west toward Brooklyn Chinatown (the 8th Ave. stop) and then into the nether regions. The N's greatest feature is it will shoot you up to Atlantic terminal pretty quickly so that you can eat at Chuckie Cheese and shop at Target. On weekday mornings it seems to come fairly often. If you're commuting in from the north, the N train conductors will typically wait at the 36th St. stop for an approaching R, allowing you to ride into Sunset quickly and then go local if needed. The weekend N seems to be slightly more reliable than the R, though that isn't really saying very much. A note of caution: if the southern reaches of the N are undergoing construction, it will sometimes be rerouted to the D track after 36th Ave., which is gonna mess you all up. When in doubt, ask a conductor. 'D Train' The D runs a similar route to the N going south until you reach 36 St., where it begins to go west. Its last stop within Sunset Park is on 9th Avenue (around 40th St.), which is on the periphery of Brooklyn Chinatown and Boro/Borough Park, one of Brooklyn's many Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods. Because most AmeriCorps positions aren't out in that part of town, the most likely reason for you having to take this train is due to an N train reroute for construction. If you get onto a train following the D route, regardless of destination, your best bet is to ride it to New Utrecht Ave. (about 6 stops) and then take a northbound N back over to Sunset Park. 'F Train' The F is pretty clearly the best train in the city. Beyond operating like clockwork almost all of the time, never really ever shutting down, and going pretty much everywhere in the city, it's also nice and pretty and air-conditioned most of the time. Even the conductors are nicer: they will give you fun-size Milky Way Bars if you ask politely. Its main problem is that it doesn't operate in Sunset Park; in Brooklyn it goes from York Street down to Coney Island-Stillwell avenue, bypassing our little hamlet by a good amount. Luckily, it connects with the R (and late night N) at the 4th Ave.-9th St. stop in Park Slope, giving anyone so inclined quick access to Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, downtown Brooklyn around Jay St., and beyond into Manhattan via Chinatown. Living off the F train means you'll have more friends, as people will be more willing to visit you because of how convenient it is, convenience being the primary factor in establishing friendships here in Brooklyn. 'G Train' I'm not emotionally ready to write this part of the article, but I have to push forward regardless. As is emphasized in the housing section, '''be very sure you know what you are doing before choosing to rent an apartment connected to the rest of Brooklyn only by the G train'. The G is special for many reasons: it's the only train in the city (SI doesn't count obviously) that doesn't cross into Manhattan; it's the only real north-south route between lower Brooklyn and Williamsburg/Greenpoint/Queens; and because it is a rogue train operated by ghost conductors (their unfinished business has to do with Gowanus viaduct construction). Though reportedly quite reliable in the morning from 6-10am, all bets are otherwise off as to when one is going to appear. The G train is your high school S.O. that still lives in your home town. It's unreliable, it's dirty, it's never on time, but let's face it: it's your only option at this point, because taking the N all the way to the L is a change you're just not ready to make. It connects to the R at 4th Ave.-9th St. if that's your thing. Car Services & Taxis We love Bell Car service! For getting around the Sunset Park area they are (relatively) cheap and awesome. If you need to get to LaGuardia or JFK airport quickly, they will charge you $30 flat rate.